Illinois holds off Auburn in final prep

Coach, players feel ready for start of Big Ten play

Associated Press

Associated Press

Updated 7:48 am, Sunday, December 30, 2012

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 29: James Michael McAdoo #43 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives around Quintrell Thomas #1 of the UNLV Rebels during their game at Dean Smith Center on December 29, 2012 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 29: James Michael McAdoo #43 of the...

Auburn guard Chris Denson, center, goes up for a shot as Illinois' Brandon Paul, left, and Nnanna Egwu, right, defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

CHICAGO — Brandon Paul looks at the rest of the Illinois roster and sees no reason why the Illini can't compete in the Big Ten.

At this point, who can argue?

Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 27 points and No. 12 Illinois tuned up for conference play with an 81-79 victory over Auburn on Saturday.

The Illini (13-1) saw an 11-point lead shrink to one in the closing minutes but they prevailed after falling to Missouri in the Braggin' Rights game a week earlier — their first loss under coach John Groce. Their next game is the conference opener at Purdue on Wednesday, and Paul believes they are ready.

He sees more confidence and more talent than in recent years.

"I just feel like we have a lot more weapons and a lot more confidence, not only in myself but the guys that I play with," Paul said. "They come in with the mind-set that they're going to compete every game and play hard and what's going to dictate the end of the game is how we play."

They had to scratch and claw for this one, and things got real tense when Frankie Sullivan buried a 3 for Auburn (5-7) to make it 68-67 with 4:29 remaining. Illinois then hit 13 of 18 free throws the rest of the way for a rare win at the United Center, where they had dropped three straight and five of six after winning 18 in a row.

They can thank Abrams.

The sophomore guard came up big on a day when Paul was off target, going 6-for-11 from the field and 13-for-15 from the free-throw line while eclipsing his previous high by five points.

Paul, meanwhile, finished with 13 points but hit just 3 of 12 shots. He missed all five 3-point attempts and the Illini again struggled from the outside, going 4-for-15 after hitting 8 of 32 against Missouri.

Sullivan led Auburn with 21 points. Rob Chubb scored 13, and Allen Payne chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds. But the Tigers committed 20 turnovers — six by Chris Denson and five by Sullivan — even though Illinois wasn't pressing.

"They didn't press us one time, and we had over 20 turnovers," coach Tony Barbee said. He called that "just inexcusable."

In other games:Seth Curry scored 12 of his season-high 31 points during the late run that helped No. 1 Duke pull away for a 90-77 victory over pesky Santa Clara Mason Plumlee added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils (12-0), who needed a huge run late to overcome both a big game from Kevin Foster and a real scare from the Broncos (11-3). Foster scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half, and his soaring baseline dunk put the Broncos up 45-41 with 16:30 left. But the Broncos managed just one field goal over the next 8½ minutes. ... Trey Burke had 22 points and 10 assists as No. 2 Michigan finished its nonconference schedule with a victory over Central Michigan Michigan played without junior Tim Hardaway Jr. who missed the first game of his career with an ankle injury. ... Travis Releford scored 19 points and No. 6 Kansas hit a scorching 13 of its first 18 3-point attempts, rolling to an 89-57 victory over American. ... Deshaun Thomas scored 17 points and No. 10 Ohio State regained its shooting touch in its final tune-up before beginning Big Ten play with an 87-44 win over Chicago State ... Kenny Boynton snapped a shooting slump with three 3-pointers in the second half when No. 14 Florida pulled away 78-61 over Air Force. ... Doug McDermott scored 14 of his 29 points in a 6½-minute stretch of the second half when No. 16 Creighton pulled away from Evansville, 87-70. ... Rotnei Clarke hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and No. 18 Butler shook off a sluggish start and routed Vanderbilt for its seventh straight victory. ... P.J. Hairston scored 15 points in his first career start for North Carolina, leading the Tar Heels to a 79-73 victory over No. 20 UNLV ... C.J. Leslie scored 19 points to lead No. 23 North Carolina State to an 84-68 victory over Western Michigan. ... Rodney McGruder scored 17 points and No. 25 Kansas State struggled to a 52-44 victory over Missouri-Kansas City.